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Louisiana's Democratic Party is seeking public records from Congressman Clay Higgins' previous law enforcement career after the former deputy claimed he arrested "thousands" while grilling Michael Cohen during Wednesday's Capitol Hill hearing.

Higgins, R-Port Barre', was among the members of the House Oversight Committee who questioned the president's former personal attorney during a dramatic hearing in which Cohen claimed Trump is a "racist" and "con man."

But Cohen's credibility — he is guilty of previously lying to Congress and faces up to three years in prison — was called into question by Higgins and other Republicans.

Rep. Clay Higgins(Photo: Submitted)

"I've arrested several thousand men and you remind me of many of them," said Higgins, who also quoted Scripture and told Cohen he didn't know who he was before the hearing.

The Louisiana Democratic Party said it has filed public records requests with Higgins' former law enforcement agency employers to substantiate the number of arrests he made.

“Rep. Higgins’ claim that he arrested thousands of men is hard to believe,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “If it’s true, it’s an inappropriate boast ... If it’s a lie, he’s a hypocrite. Either way, Higgins continues to embarrass the state of Louisiana on the national stage. We’re looking forward to finding out the truth.”

Higgins' spokesman Andrew David's reply: Bring it on.

“The Louisiana Democratic Party is free to dig through that data," Higgins said in a written statement to USA Today Network. "Congressman Higgins was a police officer for over a decade. Standard shifts for a patrol cop are 14 12-hour shifts per month. That doesn’t include overtime hours or security details worked, which are very common.

"It’s also not uncommon for any patrol officer to make several arrests in one shift or several arrests from a single incident during one shift. Further, this doesn’t count traffic arrests, referred to as summons.”

Higgins, a loyal Trump supporter, previously told USA Today Network he would act as a shield for "liberal attacks" against the president as a member of the House Oversight and Reform committee.

"It became clear to me that the Oversight Committee is the place where America needed me and President Trump needed me," said Higgins, explaining why he sought the assignment in a previous interview.

He reiterated his position during the hearing.

"This is an attempt to injure our president," Higgins said during the hearing, saying it was designed to set the stage for an attempted impeachment.

Trump endorsed Higgins during the Acadiana congressman's successful re-election campaign last fall and backed it up with a "We want Clay!" tweet.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1